Houston Urban Debate League

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
262702012
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024, Form 990-EZ 2013, Form 990-N 2008
Location
Houston, TX, USA
Phone
8327861343
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Student Services, Organizations of Students

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$148,191
Expenses
$202,599
Assets
$138,103
Liabilities
$45,652

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

24 people listed

People named in this filing

  • JIM SUMMERS (BOARD CHAIR)
  • MARGARET TELLEGEN (TREASURER)
  • BRADLEY J BENOIT (DIRECTOR)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

To develop and support competitive debate programs in houston-area public schools. Hudl builds public-private partnerships that enhance and supplement the investment of school districts in debate activities by providing financial, monitoring, and communication support.

What it reported doing in 2024

Host instructional academic seminars led by attorneys, college professors and other experts on topics relevant to competitive debate. This includes a summer institute and three weekend seminars during the school year that prepare the students to debate at tournaments. Students receive in depth debate training and the opportunity to participate in five different debate formats. The houston independent school district and the harris county department of education contributed towards this year's seminars and workshops.provide scholarships and opportunities to travel to state and national debate tournaments to city championship finalists and runners-up. Approximately 350 students participated in hudl's city championship tournament. The champions in each format were awarded $1,500 in scholarship money to be used at the college or university of their choosing. Runners-up in the four divisions were awarded $750 in scholarship money to be used at the college or university of their choosing. Host debate tournaments and classes. During the fiscal year, approximately 1,000 students have participated in some aspect of debate including classes, tournaments and seminars. Hudl builds and sustains these programs within the houston independent school district ("hisd") and in other harris county schools and makes debate an educational resource available to all students participating schools free of cost. Additionally, debate teams are often paired with volunteer debate mentors who serve as role models and assist the debate coaches. Hisd and the harris county department of education ("hcde") support the tournaments by funding the direct tournament costs and positions for the league director and deputy league director at hisd and the case debates coordinator and case debates vista at hcde. Hisd and hcde also pay stipends for a coach at approximately $1,400 monthly to serve an academic year. During the fiscal year, the houston independent school district funded six debate tournaments, and hcde funded three debate tournaments.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 88% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 23
  • Growth: 40

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 89.9%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: $158.27 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 90; 90th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -36.7%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.33; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -3.9% per year; rating input score 0; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.2% per year; rating input score 0; 24th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 89.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 24 of 24 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $182K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 24 people listed
  • Consistency: 19 of 20 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and grants
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 8/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 31/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.